That, Nagaland is at the bottom of almost all development index as per the NITI Aayog is now a cliché, so much so that it no longer even feels cringe worthy. As embarrassing as it may be, we are now so used to being at the bottom of the list that we’ve gotten comfortable with it. That, at least, is what the state government is seemingly happy to project. Proponents of the state government can make tall claims and excuses but the fact remains unchanged – we are still at the bottom. Now, if Nagaland state as a whole is at the bottom of the index, then what does that mean for Mokokchung? We have been discussing how Mokokchung, despite all the positives she has, is languishing at the bottom in a lot of spheres in Nagaland – starting from education to sports to infrastructure to a host of other areas. One of the most strikingly ‘bottomness’ things about Mokokchung is in the healthcare sector. No, we are not even talking about the lack of a state-of-the-art healthcare facility or the lack of renowned and humane medical practitioners in Mokokchung but the basic elementary healthcare sector.
The fact that the Nagaland state government has not been paying the salaries of the Community Health Officers since April 2022 is a glaring example of how the government is managing the affairs in the state. A total of 103 CHOs are going to stage a ‘No Pay, No Work’ protest from September 5, including 9 of them from Mokokchung. It means the needy people will not be able to receive medical care in 9 healthcare facilities under Mokokchung district. And all of these 9 facilities are located in the villages spread across Mokokchung district. That is how our government is treating us, the people. This is not something to be complacent about when Mokokchung district is already at the bottom of the list in terms of healthcare.
Truth be told, Mokokchung is at the bottom of the list not only in the state but in the country as a whole! As per the NITI Aayong, Mokokchung has been identified among the Poor Performing Districts in the Health Sector. Mokokchung was identified as such based on nine Key Performance Indicators. In January of this year, the National Health Mission, Nagaland wrote to the CMO Mokokchung to closely monitor and review the ‘poor’ performance in the district regularly. See, when the state as a whole is performing so poorly, and Mokokchung even poorer, our villagers are being meted the worst treatment because the government is not paying the salaries to the health officers. That is how pathetic our situation is today. Unless we do something drastic to improve the state of affairs, we will remain at the bottom – both state and district. The NITI Aayog identified 12 Poor Performing Districts in India, and Mokokchung found its place at number 12. We are languishing at the ‘bottom of the bottom’, and we seem to be quite comfortable with it.